Cafe Yeonnam-Dong 223-14 in Seoul is a cartoon-themed Instagrammer’s dream

What just happened? I stepped through a door and appear to have mislaid a dimension. I have entered a cafe in which the tables, chairs, decorations and floor have lost all depth. Everything is in plain black-and-white and is utterly cartoonish.

Where are you? It’s all a bit Alice In Wonderland, but this is Cafe Yeonnam-Dong 223-14, named after the district in which it is located, in western Seoul. The disorienting two-tone decor was inspired by a short-lived Korean television show, W, in which the characters are caught partway between the real world and a cartoon existence.

A favourite show of one J.S. Lee, he set out to recreate that look and the cafe opened last November. The floor has a black-and-white parquet effect; intricate crests and swirls on the cross beams are remini­scent of stately homes but are in two dimensions only, as are the elegant candle­holders on the walls and a “side­board” that holds two-tone plates, coffee pots and tea cups. Lee is a businessman, though, and the “look” is designed to also appeal to Instagrammers and other social media devotees – of whom there are many on a recent Thursday after­noon.

The cafe’s fame has spread inter­nation­ally, too, with customers from America and Japan among those hamming it up for their online accounts; 2D or not 2D, that is the question. And it is all deceptively fun.

Are the food and drinks similarly flat? On the contrary, they are fully rounded. The menu is limited, but what they do, they do well. My lemon yogurt smoothie is generous in scale and refresh­ing on a hot day while the mocha cheese­cake also hits the spot. And while the cafe serves regular hot and iced drinks – a good selection of coffees, fresh juices and teas – there is also a playful side to what it does.